AMES, Iowa -- A memorial to the victims and survivors of Sept. 11 being
developed at Iowa State University will meld art and science.

The memorial, called Ashes to Ashes/Dance Driving, will be a virtual
reality, or immersive sonic environment, featuring music, virtual dancers
and the voices of New York City residents.

Ashes to Ashes will be about hope, said Anne Deane, assistant professor of
music who is leading the project. Our plan is to give New Yorkers a
permanent interactive exhibit where future visitors also will be able to
record their recollections, to create an archive of thousands of New
Yorkers' experiences of that time for all future generations.

Ashes to Ashes is being developed by Deane; Carolina Cruz-Neira, associate
professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering; and Valerie
Williams, director of CoMotion Dance Theater in Ames. The project will use
technology at Iowa States Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC).
Cruz-Neira is associate director of VRAC.

VRAC is home to C6, the first virtual reality theater in the United States
designed to totally immerse the user in images and sound. Virtual reality
uses computer images and sound to create environments that can be
experienced as "real" to the user. C6 has images projected on all six of its
sides (four walls, ceiling and floor). Human-computer interaction is a
fundamental research area for VRAC.

"There is plenty of room for improvement in how people interact with virtual
reality systems and computers in general, both in the arts and the sciences,
said Cruz-Neira. "Ashes to Ashes/Dance Driving gives us a unique way of
looking at the problem. It requires that we develop new ways to model humans
in a VR environment. This technology will be helpful in many areas that we
are working on, from virtual collaboration to military simulations.

The team is working to make Ashes to Ashes a permanent installation in New
York City. It has received funding from Iowa State and the Iowa Arts
Council.

Like so many people, we wanted to do something. We wanted to comment as
artists on what had happened, said Deane. This is about what the people of
New York City experienced. Its their experiences, not ours. We want it to be
their piece.

The exhibit uses a new medium blending the arts and virtual reality.
Visitors to Ashes to Ashes will be encouraged to gesture or even dance.
Their movements will trigger synthetic dancers, who will move to the sounds
of music and voices. The voices belong to New York City residents.

Williams will work with Iowa State student dancers to create dances for the
project. The movements of the dancers will be videotaped, then turned into
2-D graphic silhouettes, which will be the only images in the virtual
environment.

Deane is writing the music for the project. In February, she spent several
days in New York City, doing interviews for the spoken-word portion of the
project. She interviewed people who were in the World Trade Center during
the attack, as well as bystanders and people who lived nearby. She talked to
firefighters and medical personnel who were on the scene, people who
delivered food to volunteers, and young women who went from temps in office
buildings to ground zero volunteers.

Deanes interview subjects were found through the projects Web site, and with
the help of counselors who helped people following the attacks.

Deane is taking pieces from the interviews and creating categories that
range from the mundane activities of someones day to what each person felt,
heard, smelled and saw after the attacks. One woman speaks about being with
her running group early that morning and how the sky was clear and
beautiful. She speaks of the World Trade Center glowing in the sunlight.
Later, she talks about hearing a big rumbling noise.

Under Cruz-Neiras direction, ISU students David Kabala and David Snow are
integrating dance video with computer graphics and programming the
interactive portions of the performance. Kabala is a junior studying
microbiology and computer science. Snow is a senior in computer
engineering.

Our students had to learn how to create a virtual reality application and
then discover how to integrate new technologies into it, said Cruz-Neira.
And of course, they have worked closely with Anne and Valerie to fulfill
their artistic desires and sensibilities.

This is Deane and Cruz-Neiras first collaboration, though both have
previously created immersive environments. An installation Deane created in
California was a model for Ashes to Ashes. The installation used water,
music and voices of nine brothers and sisters, who shared fond and
heartbreaking memories of their father, who suffered from Alzheimers
disease. The installation also featured a recording of an elderly Alzheimers
sufferer singing I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad.
The installation toured California and elicited strong emotional responses,
said Deane.

We can give people a very direct experience, an experience that is
emotionally moving and cathartic, said Deane. These installations give
people an opportunity to express themselves and help them heal.

Several Iowa State students are involved in the project, helping with
technical aspects and doing research. Chad Jacobsen, a senior in the
Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, is the projects
videographer and traveled to New York with Deane.

The ISU group is working with Steve Berman and Larry Tuch, two Los
Angeles-based experts on virtual reality and new media. Berman and Tuch will
speak at Iowa State on April 7.